The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘One Community, One Cause’
Young businessman, basketball team join forces to aid cancer center
MIDDLETOWN — Two 20-somethings have united in a cause close to their hearts that will greatly benefit the community and university and, in the process attempt to break down the town/gown divide, they said.
Ernesto Vargas, owner of Finesse Cuts Barbershop on Main Street in Middletown, and a group of Wesleyan University students, led by junior basketball player Jordan Bonner, are spearheading the Cardinal Community Classic Sunday afternoon at the Freeman Athletic Center.
The event, open to the public at 161 Cross St., is a 3 vs. 3 basketball tournament in which all proceeds will go to the Schultz Witowski fund to help patients in need at the Middlesex Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center. The goal is to raise $5,000.
Vargas, 26, a barber in the North End who has led a number of initiatives to benefit city youth, has cut Bonner’s hair for the past three years. He now counts the entire basketball team as clients.
The 21-year-old psychology major and Houston native realized Vargas, who opened shop at 23, was the perfect candidate to speak at the campus’ Invisible Men group.
The collective, which consists of between 20 and 30 men of color and a five-member board, has hosted retreats, cancer awareness dinners, talks, film screenings, classes and other events geared toward breaking down the barriers in communication across generations within the Middletown community.
Vargas, a 2008 participant in the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce’s Middletown summer youth employment program a year before he graduated from Cromwell High School, spoke as part of an ongoing series at the university. There, male city business owners are introduced to the collective as a way to foster connections between citizens and students.
“One of the problems that we noticed was that Wesleyan is like an island,” Vargas said.
“Nes (as friends call Vargas) was already cutting our hair, so he came to speak, and from there, we established that relationship. Now we have all the men of color, and the basketball team, go to him to get haircuts,” Bonner said Thursday as team members practiced at the athletic center. “It’s definitely been good. I’m very happy that we made that connection.”
The two began talks last April, but there wasn’t enough time before summer break to take action, Bonner said. In October, after classes resumed,
they reignited the idea — and settled on the breast cancer center as a benefactor because it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Also, Bonner’s aunt is a breast cancer survivor.
“That definitely motivated me to want to promote awareness and to raise funds for people who are affected by breast cancer in our local community,” he said.
The group had another mission: bridging the gap between students and the Middletown public.
“There hasn’t been a space for us to engage in a meaningful way and our whole motto is ‘One Community, One Cause,’ so we want to foster a better relationship,” Bonner said. “Residents will come to our campus for parties and different events, and they are referred to as townies and I don’t like that. It hasn’t sat well with me since I was a freshman.”
The idea was to try and change the stigma associated with the private liberal arts college by city residents.
The perception is “we are privileged, we are not personable, not down-to-earth: There’s already this divide, because we think we are at this higher institution that makes us better. We placed ourselves in the middle of this community. I won’t say we haven’t had projects or community outreach — regardless, I still think it exists, that stigma,” Bonner said.
“People don’t understand them. If you look in the gym right now, there are people from New Jersey, there are people from California, there are people from Houston,” Vargas said. “Those are all different locations around the world, and they have a different culture and way they talk, move, dress.”
Vargas learned that very quickly and would like to
see others begin to feel the same way.
“I believe that people around here don’t understand that, and they should understand that because every single person I’ve met at Wesleyan has a beautiful personality. They’re a good support system that Middletown should have and should use,” he added.
As an example, Vargas said this year’s Wesleyan football team is “phenomenal,” adding the basketball team made it to the NCAA tournament this year.
“We made it the previous year, but we always lost in the first round,” Bonner said.
“The talent on the team is crazy: People should come to the football, basketball games because it’s something do in the town that’s free,” Vargas said.
The two men have been hard at work pounding the pavement to garner sponsors, which have been remarkably generous, they said. Those who donated goods and services include O’Rourke’s Diner, Mondo Pizza, Jerry’s Pizza, Eli Cannon’s Tap Room Restaurant and Moonlight Restaurant.
The event will feature a double elimination bracketstyle tournament and several competitions, including a half-court shot contest.
Sunday’s event includes music from the football team’s DJ Turnup Tre, catering by the Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore restaurant grown, owned by NBA legend Ray Allen and his wife (city native and Mercy High School graduate) Shannon Allen, as well as food from the university’s WesWings and Bon Appetit cafe.
“That’s enough reason right there: People love free food,” which will be served at 3 p.m., said Bonner, who has never organized an event of this size.
Raffle tickets, for items such as authentic NBA gear (a team player’s father works for the league), will be sold for $2.
“We’ve really been hustling. It’s inspiring and a blessing that people are willing to donate,” Bonner said. “Nes and I don’t want this to happen just one year. We bought a trophy that has six plaques on the bottom. This is a legacy we are trying to establish and he does so much for the community already.
“You walk down Main Street everyone knows his name. It’s inspiring and we want this to continue for years to come.”
People can register online at bit.ly/2EJJY5z. To donate to the event, visit the Cardinal Classic GoFundMe page.